Leaf stared at the bodies around him and looked at Poison.
"It's not like this normally at the port. They really don't want anyone here to see what they've been doing."
"I'm glad… This has been more then usual. I'm tired. We need to go somewhere to rest."
Mouse nodded and looked around him.
"I know a place. We're not far from it. I'm not sure you'll like it much, but it's a safe place."
"At the moment. I don't care if it's covered in bugs or large furry things with giant teeth."
Mouse looked at her in confusion. "You mean spiders?"
"Yes those. They freak me out."
Mouse shrugged his shoulders. "None of those things where we'll be going. It's just dark and a little wet."
"Darkness and being wet is something I can deal with. I just need to rest."
Mouse nodded and ran out of the alley jumping onto the house he was next to and started running. He turned and saw Poison following him and nodded. He looked up in the distance and saw lights moving in the streets around the port and on the roofs.
He stopped running and pointed.
"We need to get over there. It has an entrance to the safe place."
"Do you think they've found it?"
Mouse shook his head. "The Supreme already had it cleaned out. I don't think they'll even look for us in there."
"Is that the place where you lost your family, and everyone disappeared?"
Mouse nodded and ducked as a beam of light passed over their location. Mouse waited for the beam of light to pass over them until he started moving again.
"We might as well remove some of these guards. We'll surprise them this time."
"I'm tired and need to rest… If you can handle it on your own then you can do it."
"I'll take out the few on the roof and leave the ones on the streets alone. That should give us enough time to us to get to the location."
"I'll wait here, and if you get into trouble I'll help."
Mouse unsheathed his short blades and bent down watching the small group on the roofs in front of him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before opening them and moving as fast as he could stabbing the first through their throat.
He caught the light battery with a hand and placed it on the highest point of the roof and moved the body so it wouldn't fall onto the street. He panted and looked at his next target. Leaf lowered his body and waited for the light to stop moving before he ran and jumped. He landed on top of the opponent quickly cutting through their throat. He stopped moving and turned around as Poison landed on the same roof as he was.
"That's two down… Can we go and rest now?"
Leaf nodded and sheathed his blades.
"Fine. Follow me. We're near the entrance now."
"Good. I'm almost walking in my sleep here."
Leaf jumped down from the roof and ran across the street. He watched as Poison followed close behind him. He held up his hand as light started to shine on the street. They lowered themselves behind small crates and waited as the light source passed them by. Leaf let out a long breath and stood up leaning against the wall.
"This way." Leaf pointed down the alleyway and walk along the shadows of the wall until they came to a dead end. He looked at the brick wall in front of them and pulled on a loose brick revealing the small battery inside.
"What's that?"
"This is the key to get into the place. Now move to the side while I turn it on."
He waited for Poison to move and turned on the battery causing a small hatch in the ground to open revealing the metallic ladder below.
"We have to go down there?"
Leaf nodded and looked down the alleyway while Poison was staring at the dark hole. "Fine… Let's go. As long as there is a safe place to rest."
Leaf climbed down the ladder and looked around in the darkness. He placed his hand over the wall and nodded.
"There's no one around here now. We can walk safely through these tunnels."
"I hope this isn't the place you mean to rest."
Leaf looked at Poison with her hands on her hips and shook his head.
"The place to rest is up ahead. We're close."
Leaf started walking through the tunnel keeping his hand on the wall. He stopped when he could feel a vibration coming through the wall. He increased his pace until he stopped and looked at the damaged bridge in front of him. He pointed to the other side.
"We need to get across. The rest point is over there."
"Who would've thought there would be a waterfall under the city. Does it go out into the battery sea?"
Leaf nodded. "When I used to run in the city, this was the place where they would drop off any hot item or body."
"Impressive. Now let's keep going Leaf."
Leaf nodded and ran towards the bridge and jumped landing on the other side. "Catch me… I can't jump as far as you."
Leaf ran to the edge of the bridge and grabbed Poison's arm pulling her towards him. He fell back and landed on his back as Poison landed on him. He looked into her eyes.
"Ahh. Thanks for that." He watched her quickly stand up and looked down the darkened tunnel. "This way?"
Leaf nodded slowly and stood up. He felt his heart racing in his throat, and he walked down the tunnel keeping an eye out for any disturbance.
"Is it like this the whole way?"
Leaf shook his head. "It gets a lot wider shortly. Come we're almost there."
He increased his pace and saw light at the end of the tunnel and frowned. He held up his hand and stopped. He felt Poison walk up behind him and lean forward. "What is it?"
"There's light up ahead. Usually it shouldn't be this bright."
Leaf moved forward slowly and let his eyes adjust to the light. He put his hand on his mouth to stop himself from retching and took several steps back.
"What is it?"
Leaf sat against the wall and pointed towards the exit.
"I've found the contacts… I can see why they didn't contact us."
"Why?"
He watched as Poison walked to the edge and looked. He heard her cough and sat next to Leaf. "You're right. That's them. It seems they've been tortured or something. At least the bodies are old… It seems no one alive is in there. We need to investigate."
Leaf nodded. "Give me a moment."
Leaf panted and stood up he slowly walked towards the end of the tunnel and looked around. He closed his eyes to calm his heart and looked at the cages of corpses covered in dust.
He covered his nose from the smell and walked down the steps looking around. He stopped when he saw a metallic table near the cages.
"This is the same table as I saw in Borgis' secret room under the citadel. They weren't tortured… They were used in someone's experiments…"
"That's terrible… We can't rest here. It smells really bad like dead bodies and fish."
Leaf nodded and looked around the large hall. "Let's go further in. The rest spot is under this hall. If there is a clear place at the other end of the hall we could rest, there as well."
"As long as it doesn't smell as bad as this, I'll be fine."
Leaf walked past the cages and tables. He shook his head as he looked at the blood covering the tables. He stopped walking and looked at a corpse in a cage.
"This is one of the contacts. They must of rounded everyone up who wanted to take a look around at the port."
"Your right. I see clothes of servants from the keep… They really want to keep whatever they've been doing here a secret. I wonder what they're hiding?"
"Whatever it is. It's big, and they don't want anyone to know about it."
Leaf saw Poison nod in his direction. He looked up towards the far side of the hall. "It's all covered in dust… It means they finished here long ago… Over there seems to be away from the smell."
They walked towards the far side. Leaf turned and looked at Poison when she stopped walking. "Here is fine. There's no death smell here. Let's rest here... I am too tired to move any further."
Leaf nodded and sat against the wall. He looked up towards the cages and tables in the distance and shook his head.
"Happy we can rest and all, but do you have to be a sad pile of potatoes about it?"
He looked at her and felt her punch in his arm. "You need to lighten up. Don't let those past things continue to haunt you. You should listen to what's in your heart more…"
Leaf looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean by listen to my heart?"
"Men… They can't see anything in front of them… Unless it's tied to a piece of food or attached to the body of a busty female."
Leaf shook his head. "If I'm missing something, then come on you tell me what I'm missing."
He saw Poison shake her head. "Nope… I'm going to torture you about it some more until you're able to figure it out yourself."
Leaf put his head in his hands shaking his head. "Leaf… What I'll tell you is that you need to start listening to your heart more."
"What do you think I've been doing? Sitting around and ignoring the fact that the person who was about to do that to me over there, ended up doing that and worst to my friends… My family."
"Yes… We all know about what happened and what happened to your legs and voice… You need to let it go. How can you complete your missions or even become stronger with all that pain in your heart?"
Leaf looked at Poison and lowered his head back into his hands. He sat in silence and felt Poison's arm around his shoulders rubbing his back. "See. At least you're not as stubborn to listen like the old man."
Leaf sat up and looked at Poison.
"I need to meditate and train on the words you've said. I don't want to be disturbed. You can rest."
"I get it… I know when I'm not wanted. I'll go rest. Wake me when you want to rest."
Leaf nodded, crossed his legs and closed his eyes.
He stood in front of the pulsing object and smiled. "I'm sure you heard her… Is she right? Do I need to let all that go?"
"For you to grow stronger. You do need to let go of the anger and desire for revenge… However, that doesn't mean you need to forget it. If you strike them down in anger. What will you do next?"
Mouse walked around the pulsing object in thought and looked at his own connection to it. "You've helped me so much so far. Yet you knew this darkness in my own heart. So, why would you want to help me?"
"We came to help because of the trouble you were in. The desire to be connected and removal of your kill intent was something you asked for. In return you helped us remove a taint. The one thing I do miss Mouse is our long talks… We haven't had one of those in a long time… Are you changing your mind about us?"
Mouse shook his head and waved his hands in front of the pulsating object. "No… Far from that. I've been thinking about when I can give to Borgis, what was taken from me."
"I see… Then she was right… If you don't let go of those things, then you won't become strong enough to meet that day."
Mouse nodded in thought. "What should I do?"
"Give them to me. Hohoho. We can make a deal..."